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I love scrap quilts. I think the more colors the merrier! Not that one, two or three color quilts are not beautiful …. but a large variety of colors can make a simple pattern look more vibrant. At least in my opinion!

So, let’s say you have a quilt that requires 1 yard each 3 fabrics and has 36 blocks with instructions to make 12 blocks from each color. For my example, I’ll use yellow, red and blue.

This would be a pretty quilt!

However, what if you want to turn it into a scrappier quilt, instead of buying 1 yard each of the 3 colors, split the yardage up into smaller amounts to add in more colors. For example, instead of 1 yard of yellow, buy 1/3 yard of yellow, green and orange. Do the same thing for the blue and red fabrics.

As you can see above, I now have nine fabrics to work with! Instead of 12 yellow blocks, I will have 4 yellow, 4 orange and 4 green. Instead of 12 red blocks, I will have 4 red, 4 pink and 4 brown. And finally for the dark blue, I’ve added in light blue and purple and will have 4 of each of those blocks. So there you go…. instant scrap quilt!

Here are some real blocks demonstrating what I was talking about above. First, here’s 4 blocks all the same color.

Now, I have taken away 3 of the blue blocks and added in a green, a purple and a red block.

Another way to make a quilt scrappy is to actually mix the fabrics in the same block. Below, you will see that I am using the same 3 colors for the 3 blocks, but the each color is in a different part of each block.

Finally …. true scrappy! This is where you sit next to your basket of scraps and pull out a new color for each section of the block.

Now that’s scrappy!

Do you like scrap quilts? If so, use some of these tips to make any pattern you have into a scrap quilt. Share some of your scrap quilting tips with me and win a Snuggles Quilts T-shirt! The drawing will be next Monday 11/19/18! **We have a winner! Congrats, Pammy!**

Have you ever picked up a quilt pattern and wondered “how am I going to get my quilt to look like the sample”? Well, it’s easier than you think!

First, I’ll share a secret with you … maybe it’s not such a secret … but when you see fabric in a quilt, whether it’s an individual pattern or in a magazine, most likely that sample was made 6 months to a year ago! Unless a fabric company has a sample made with new fabric not in stores yet and plans to have the fabric and the pattern debut at the same time, you might not find the exact fabric shown in the pattern. Often fabric companies print limited quantities of a line and when it’s gone, it’s gone! So what’s a quilter to do?

Search for fabric by color family and print size so it reads like the original fabric!

See this red fabric?

If you can’t find this exact piece of fabric, then you look for something in the same color family and shade. So here’s a piece of fabric that is close to the same shade of red and also has a print about the same scale.

What if you pick up a pattern that says to choose 15 color print fat quarters; 5 light, 5 medium and 5 dark? Stumped? Don’t be! This is where the fun starts! Light, medium and dark is all relative. Here is a blue from my stash:

This may be considered a dark blue if it is paired with a lighter blue fabric. But look what happens when I choose the next blue fabric:

That first blue is lighter so you can use it as the “light”, if you are only using 2 blues in the project. Or it can be a medium blue if you are using 3 blues in the project.

Look at this next picture. I have 3 stacks of fabrics next to each other. Lights, mediums and darks. Some of these fabrics are the same color (there are 3 blues and 3 greens for example), but with the variation of shade and print it looks like you have 15 different colors. That’s the fun of scrap quilting!

So head to the fabric store and start stacking up the bolts!

TIPS

Once you get that fabric home, make sure it’s prepared and ready for when you want to start your next project. If you are a pre-washer, get the fabrics washed, ironed and folded.

If you like scrap quilting, cut your larger pieces of fabric into fat quarters, fat eights and strips. Then you are ready to pull out smaller cuts when needed or pile up a rainbow of strips for that log cabin quilt!

Store your fabrics by size and color in labeled stack-able tubs. This makes finding the fabrics you want easier so you can get to the cutting and sewing. Here are some of my tubs that I’ve shown you before on my blog:

Organization keeps the fun happening!

So, leave me a comment on how you approach color when planning a quilting project. Do you follow the pattern choices to the letter or do you go off on your own in the quilt shop and experiment? I will pick a winner from the comments and you will receive a copy of my two newest patterns! I’ll pick the winner on Thursday, April 5th. **Congrats! We have a winner: Judy U.****

Color…. I am asked every time I speak to a group how I choose my color palette for my quilts. It’s an interesting question. To me, the colors I choose breathe life into my designs. If I have a color in a quilt block that does not mesh well, the design can be lost. You need the right contrast between colors to enhance a design.

I am a scrap quilter at heart. So I like a lot of color in my quilts. Once a design is complete, I will decide how many colors I want in the quilt. Then it’s time to “audition” the fabrics!

Here’s how I store my fabric:

Sometimes, all those bins are spread out across my floor!

By laying out the fabrics like above, I can see how each color interacts with the others in the stack. If one of the fabrics sticks out too much or fades from view within the collection, I know that it does not belong with this group.

Here’s how I sort out fabrics when I am looking for lights mediums and darks for one project. By stacking the fabrics as shown in the photo, I can see what the fabrics will look like together and also pick out the ones that may not fit in.

Here’s a photo that shows how I get contrast. The photo on the left shows the first grouping I chose. On the right, you’ll see that by replacing 2 fabrics with a lighter version, I created some contract within the group that will help accent the design.

You do not necessarily need to stay within a fabric line or even with fabrics from the same fabric company. What I have found is that using fabrics from the same genre pretty much insures they will look good together. For example, I use Civil War Reproduction fabrics. In most cases, this is foolproof. However, if I find a fabric that is not from a Civil War collection but fits in well with the other fabrics chosen, I will use it!

What if You Don’t Like the Colors I Choose?

I’ve heard it before. Someone looks at a quilt sample of mine, and will say: “I love the design, but I just don’t like the colors!” Well, if that’s the way you feel about a quilt ….. use the fabrics you like! I’ve even done that myself with a design of mine. Here is a quilt of mine made with the fabrics I love:

And here is the same quilt, made for my son’s girlfriend, in bright colors that I never use!

See how the design works for both? Many quilt patterns are like that. Substitute the fabrics you like and you will love the design and the fabric!!

So, it’s time to go shopping for some fabric, right? When do we actually need an excuse!

Now, it’s sharing time. Do you have some tips on storing your fabric and on color? Share those tips and win a copy of my pattern, Homestead Trail, so you can practice your color choosing! I will draw for the winner next Monday, November 20th.

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